Royce Da 5’9″ Scores His First No. 1 on the Billboard 200 w/ Eminem!

Bad Meets Evil — the hip-hop duo of Eminem and Royce da 5’9″ — bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as its “Hell: the Sequel” launches with 171,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set beats out 11-year old Jackie Evancho’s first major-label full-length effort, “Dream With Me,” which arrives at No. 2 with 161,000.

Eminem has previously topped the chart six times as a solo act, and twice as part of D12. He last reigned when his own “Recovery” spent seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 last year. Until this week, Royce da 5’9″ had never gone higher than No. 110 with 2009’s “Street Hop.”